27 - "Lost in Thought"

ON:

[Starbase Secondary Science Lab]

Lieutenant Junior Grade Brandon Wellers looked at the monitor as a stream of syntax streamed by and centered itself on the monitor.  He had been staring at this same monitor for most of his shift, he was tired, his eyes were tired … his brain was tired.  However, he was elated because he had something to work on that was related to his specialty, something to decipher, instead of just sorting through the comm traffic the station received everyday from both sides of the Neutral Zone.  But being on the edge of the Neutral Zone, one would think that there would be action, especially since the alliance with the Romulan’s was uneasy at best … nothing happened, at least not since he had been assigned to Starbase 47.

The communications officer took a look at the syntax once more, looking for key markers that he could use to build an algorithm to incorporate into Starfleet’s universal translator.  He had only received the PADD with the simple message only a few days ago, and the standard decryption algorithm’s that Starfleet had were of no use … so he had to build one himself.  Brandon hadn’t done anything like this since he was writing his thesis on the Mahavar language so many months ago.  The Mahavar language was complex, full of symbols, numbers, syntax, numbers … it was quite complex and he spent close to three years studying it.  After three long years, he deciphered it, and now Starfleet could communicate with the race the Federation had made first contact with two centuries ago.

Brandon had pushed himself from the console, stood, and raised his arms to stretch.  He felt his spine and neck crack as the fluid in the joints moved and repositioned.  How long had been sitting?  It was long enough for his joints and back to stiffen up, Starfleet chairs were not meant to sit in for an extended amount of time.  His arms fell to his side, he looked around the lab, he was alone which he didn’t mind.  The communications officer never minded being alone, sometimes he preferred it while he worked.  When he worked in the lab, it was truly the only time he got any alone time while he worked … when he worked in Operations there was always so much hustle and bustle, people always talking, joking, he was surprised anyone ever got any work done at all.

But yet being alone gave him more time to think about things … not always so great things.  When he was left to his own thoughts, despite not minding being alone, it made it worse when his thoughts went to how alone he really was … this is why counselors tended to be his best friend.  They found him intriguing and how his mind had worked, how his personality was quirky, how he would contradict his own psyche … no doubt counselors could spend years studying the young Brandon Wellers.

But his job on the station left him many pockets of time to think …

All Brandon ever did was monitor subspace channels, monitor fleet reports, take in the incoming comm traffic and distribute as needed.  Being on a space station didn’t afford him much time to partake in his second love, geophysics.  There were times when the stationed received ore samples, in which he and other scientists took part in deciphering the mineral make up but sometimes, at least he was told, that weeks went by without the science department having nothing more to do than record the sensor readings when the station transveresed the Neutral Zone.

However, the station orbited, at least some of the time a planet that was a myriad of issues, issues that only sensors could decipher most times.  The planet was plagued by constant weather issues, from the briefest of electrical storms, to seismic, and tsunami activity.  It was a weather guru’s dream, but Brandon was not one for extreme anything, unless it dealt with rocks or languages.

The brief break did the communications officer good as he felt his muscles and joints relax from standing.  He slid back into the chair that he had been occupying for hours previous, but didn’t take on the line of script just yet.  His eyes were still a blur from looking at the monitor for so long, one thing is the lab’s lights had been dimmed just slightly so he only had to deal with the brightness of the monitor.  But as true to any down moment, Brandon’s thoughts had wandered, it wasn’t extravagant thoughts (at least they weren’t when he had down moments on his shifts) but this time his thoughts were about the station, how new people always came and went, how it was difficult to make friends because of the continuing changes.

But yet it was always an exciting thing when a starship had docked, and the rumor had it a starship had docked for repairs.  The starbase wasn’t really a place for starships to dock and get repairs, they were more of a restock station … but Brandon had welcomed the change.  It was always nice to see new blood, even if they would leave in just a few days.  But he would never go up to these new arrivals, he would never introduce himself, never ask them about their travels … he was just too shy for that.

However, he was always intrigued …

This was when he missed the Forester the most, being on a starship was a wonderful thing for a scientist.  There was never a time of rest, there were always things to research, planets to look at, atmospheres, geo-structures, evolutions, first contacts … it was always hustle and bustle, and to top it all off the Forester was a Nova Class vessel … meant for deep space scientific exploration.  But being a starbase had its merits as well, especially where 47 had been situated … being on the edge of frontier space was also exhilarating, but boring as well.  But it wasn’t a horrible assignment, after close to three years of going light years upon light years between Earth and the Mahavar homeworld … it was a welcome sight to be stationed where he could just stay put. 

Just as he was about to resume his work, his fingers set to start using new algorithms and decrypters, his commbadge chirped.

=/\= ‘Lieutenant Wellers please report to Ops. =/\=

Brandon reached up and tapped the communication badge, “on my way … Wellers out.”  He tapped again to close the comm, he let go of a sigh wondering what he was needed for at this very moment.  He was hardly ever called to Ops, since he spent most of his shift there.  He tapped a few buttons to save his work and log off the console; he slid from the chair and headed out of the lab lost in thought once again.

OFF:

Lieutenant < jg > Brandon Wellers

Communication/Science Officer

Starbase 47

< OOC: Hello all, my name is Chris and I play Lieutenant <jg> Brandon Wellers, Communications/Science Officer, the newest member of your fine crew.  I look forward to simming with you guys, I am always up for joint posts you can reach me via YIM atmspec79, or AIM batty0822.  I look forward to some great adventures. >

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